Is Shopify Really the Best Choice for Your eCommerce?

Introduction

In the last few years, Shopify has become synonymous with “easy eCommerce”. Just search on Google or watch some videos on YouTube to come across enthusiastic tutorials that promise to launch an online shop in a few hours, with just a few clicks, without writing a single line of code, and with monthly costs declared as “affordable for everyone”. The promise is tempting: no technical complications, no infrastructure to configure, no updates to manage, and above all a constant feeling of being accompanied step by step by a well-oiled platform.

This narrative – simple, reassuring, immediate – has convinced thousands of traders, freelancers, aspiring digital entrepreneurs and startups to choose Shopify as a platform to sell online. Often it is a first experience in the world of eCommerce, and for this reason the appeal of a turnkey solution seems the best choice. In many cases, this choice translates into the abandonment - sometimes hasty - of solutions open source like WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop or OpenCart, mistakenly considered too complex or obsolete.

But the reality, as often happens in the digital world, is much more multifaceted than it might seem when you read a brochure or listen to a TikTok endorsement. Does Shopify work? Of course. But for whom? To what extent? And at what cost, in the medium-long term? It is precisely on these questions that it is worth reflecting carefully before choosing a platform that will become the beating heart of your online business.

If you are thinking of start an online store, or – even more delicately – You are considering a migration from a self-hosted platform to Shopify, it is essential to have all the information on the table. This article is designed exactly for this: to help you understand What's really behind the scenes at Shopify, what are the structural limits which often emerge only after months of real use, and why, in many cases, a open source and self-hosted solution can prove to be not only more powerful, but also cheaper, more scalable and, above all, completely yours.

We will talk about technological freedom, hidden costs, real customizations, infrastructure control, performance, SEO, and all those aspects that are too often ignored in the initial choice phase, only to later become the main reasons for frustration. Because yes, Opening an online shop is easy. But making it grow, making it performant, adapting it to an ambitious project and keeping it competitive over time… is another story. And Shopify, however well packaged, she's not always the right protagonist for that kind of story.

Shopify is simple! But at what cost? What sacrifices?

There is no doubt that Shopify has captured a significant share of the eCommerce market thanks to a user experience designed to be as simple and accessible as possible. Its interface is clear, modern and intuitive, the initial setup procedure is guided step by step, and includes everything you need to get a basic store online in record time. You don't need external hosting, or a manually configured domain, or even specific technical knowledge: Shopify centralizes everything from infrastructure to management panel, making access to electronic commerce immediate even for the less experienced.

Are available dozens of pre-built themes, many of which are responsive and compatible with the main marketing tools. In just a few minutes you can upload products, assign categories, set payment methods, choose an attractive layout and… start selling. To an inexperienced eye – or to someone who is in a hurry to launch – all this may seem the ideal solution.

The dominant narrative is clear: no server to configure, no plugins to manually update, no cron jobs to set up, no backups to schedule, no configurations to optimize. Everything “just works”. And at first glance, it really seems that way.

But this very apparent perfection is the critical point: Initial convenience has a hidden cost, which is often not communicated with the necessary transparency. A cost that is not only economic, but strategic. When everything is managed by a closed system, You are not the one who governs your eCommerce: you are a rented tenant within someone else's ecosystem.

The real price of this simplicity is paid in terms of freedom, scalability and control.. Everything that is initially seen as “one less thing to worry about” – server access, the ability to intervene in the code, database management, URL structure, APIs, cron jobs – turns, over time, into a long list of features you have to give up.

1. Technological lock-in: a golden cage

One of Shopify's most serious critical issues – and one of the least publicised – is the technological lock-in. In simple terms, it means that once you're in, it's hard to get out. Shopify is a platform closed and proprietary: nothing you build belongs to you, except the content itself (text, images, customer and product data). Everything else – design, functionality, infrastructure, application logic – remains in the hands of the platform. This has very serious implications for those who think in a long-term perspective.

▸ Non-portable data

While Shopify does allow exporting some data, like products and orders, it's extracted in a very basic CSV format. But it's not just about the format: everything related to entity relationships, specific configurations, metadata, SEO settings, complex variants, associated images, custom fields – comes mostly lost or degraded.

For example, a product with tag-based variants, dynamic categories, and custom pricing per customer, once exported from Shopify, becomes a bunch of disconnected rows in a spreadsheet. If you try to import it into WooCommerce or Magento, you will find that nothing goes back to the way it was before: it takes hours – if not days – of manual reconstruction. In essence, Portability is only theoretical.

▸ Non-reusable code

If you invest time and money in building a custom theme, implementing features with paid apps, or writing custom code in Liquid, you should know that all of this remains tied exclusively to the Shopify ecosystem. You can't take that work and migrate it to another platform.

Liquid, the template language used by Shopify, has no equivalent in open source CMS like WooCommerce (which uses PHP and JavaScript), nor in Magento or PrestaShop. And Shopify's marketplace apps don't work anywhere else. This means that every euro spent on customizations is, in effect, a non-capitalizable expense: If you ever change platforms, you have to start from scratch. You can't even transfer your theme logic, because many aspects are managed through Shopify's internal APIs, which are not accessible externally.

▸ URLs that cannot be preserved

Another critical point concerns the URL structure, which has huge SEO implications. Shopify imposes strict prefixes in permalinks, such as /products/, /collections/, /pages/, which cannot be removed or modified. This URL structure is very different from the more flexible one of WooCommerce, Magento or PrestaShop, where you can build custom hierarchies, semantic breadcrumbs and permalinks optimized for each language or product type.

When you decide to migrate from Shopify to another platform, you will not be able to keep the existing URL map, unless you manually build a series of 301 redirects – with the real risk of losing organic traffic, SEO authority and positioning consolidated over the years. For sites with hundreds or thousands of indexed URLs, this is potentially irreversible damage.

▸ Limitations that hinder any future evolution

The cumulative effect of these constraints results in a golden cage. At first everything seems easy, comfortable, fluid. But over time, as the business grows, as the number of products increases, as the needs change – you realize that your hands are tied.

• Want to change the theme? You have to start from scratch.

• Want to add new features? You need to buy (or develop) additional apps.

• Want to integrate an external management system? Only if there is an official app… or you pay a certified developer.

• Want to do advanced A/B testing, headless commerce, conditional logic in the cart? You can't, or you can only do it with expensive and unstable workarounds.

And when you realize that Shopify is no longer enough for you, you find that getting out is complicated, slow, expensive. At that point your eCommerce is no longer a flexible and scalable tool, but a closed container on which you depend for everything.

2. Hidden Costs and Recurring Fees

One of the main arguments in favor of Shopify, at least on paper, is its apparent convenience. Monthly plans seem affordable, and everything is presented as “turnkey”: hosting included, support, ready-made templates and no need to manage a technical infrastructure. But this idyllic vision is quickly scaled down when the shop starts generating sales and the project takes on a certain complexity. At that point, hidden costs, unexpected commissions and mandatory subscriptions emerge which, cumulatively, transform Shopify into a platform more expensive than you think.

▸ Monthly Plans: Prices Rise Fast

Shopify offers a range of monthly pricing plans that, at first glance, cover all needs:

• Basic at 29 USD/month

• Shopify (intermediate) at 79 USD/month

• Advanced at 299 USD/month

• ShopifyPlus, the “enterprise” version, starting at around 2.000 USD/month

The problem? The limitations of each plan become apparent once you go beyond the basic features. For example, the $29 plan doesn’t even allow you to manage advanced reports, only supports two staff accounts, and imposes higher fees. The intermediate plan ($79) improves access to features slightly, but still offers a locked checkout and imposes transaction fees. The $299 plan is only suitable for projects that already invoice thousands of euros per month, but even there, many features are still locked or tied to Shopify Payments.

In other words, to have something truly customizable and flexible, the only option is to upgrade to Shopify Plus, with a starting monthly cost equal to a full-time salary. And that before you even start selling.

▸ Sales Commissions: An Invisible Tax on Your Business

One aspect that is little known to new users is that Shopify applies additional fees on each transaction, in addition to the classic payment gateway fees. Here's how it works:

• If you are using Shopify Payments, the platform's proprietary payment system, you only pay the standard percentage commission on the transaction (usually around 1.4% – 2.9% + a fixed fee, variable by country and card type).

• If you choose instead PayPal, Stripe or other external gateways – maybe for convenience or because you already have an integrated infrastructure – Shopify retains up to 2% extra on every transaction.

This means that each sale costs you twice: a fee to Stripe or PayPal, and another to Shopify, simply because you are not using their proprietary system. In the end, selling €10.000 a month can mean €200 or more in Shopify commissions only, regardless of the size of your margins. A penalty that silently but very concretely affects the economic sustainability of the project.

▸ Paid Apps: Essential Features… at a High Price

Shopify has chosen a modular philosophy: advanced functions are not part of the core, but must be added through external apps. Their marketplace has thousands of them, but with a logic similar to that of mobile app stores: everything is paid.

Do you want a well-made review section? You need an app. Do you want to do upselling or cross-selling with intelligent logic? You need another app. Do you want to properly manage privacy according to the European GDPR? There is an app for that too, obviously for a fee. Do you want automatic backup features, SMS notifications, advanced discount codes, custom bundles, dynamic labels on products, promotional countdowns? All this can only be achieved with external plugins.

Here's the real problem: many of these apps they are not free, and costs add up quickly. Some start at $5-10 a month, but the really useful ones can cost $30, $50, or more than $100 a month. And often it is not possible to replace them with free alternatives, nor implement those same features internally, due to the limitations imposed by the platform.

Additionally, each app adds JavaScript code and external calls, negatively impacting the performance of the site. Loading times become longer, the user experience degrades and the Google PageSpeed ​​score can plummet.

▸ A constantly growing monthly operating cost

Putting it all together, it's easy to see how Shopify's operating costs may far exceed initial expectations. A medium-sized store, with a few thousand products and a monthly sales volume of around €10.000, could find itself having to sustain these expenses:

• $79-299 monthly fee (depending on plan)

• 150-300 USD transaction fee

• $100-300 monthly subscriptions to various essential apps

• Costs for potential Liquid developers, if customizations are needed

The total can easily exceed the 500-900 USD/month, and that's without including advertising costs, external tools (CRM, email marketing, ERP) or support costs.

In practice, Shopify behaves like a recurring subscription to your own business: the more you sell, the more you pay. But you don’t always get the freedom and features you need to really scale in return.

3. Limited customization and complex development

In the modern eCommerce landscape, the ability to adapt the shop to your needs is fundamental. Each sector has specific dynamics, each company has unique flows and processes, each target has particular expectations. For this reason, Platform flexibility is a critical success factor. Unfortunately, Shopify shows clear structural limitations in this very area.

Despite the vast catalog of ready-to-use themes and the marketplace full of apps, those looking for real, deep and sustainable customization will soon discover that Shopify is designed for those who are happy with "what's there". For those who want to build a custom project, Shopify becomes a rigid, poorly scalable and technically limiting system.

▸ Using Liquid: A Barrier for Developers

Shopify uses a proprietary language called Liquid, developed internally by Shopify itself. It is not a full-fledged programming language like PHP or JavaScript, but a templating language, designed to modify the layout and present dynamic content in a limited way.

This approach involves several critical issues:

• PHP or backend developers with experience in WordPress, Laravel, Symfony or other frameworks they cannot reuse their skills. They have to learn Liquid from scratch, with all the limitations that this entails.

• Liquid does not allow server-side operations, such as file management, custom asynchronous calls, direct database manipulations, or complex conditional logic implementations.

• The development environment is tied to a sandbox system, without direct access to the infrastructure. You cannot create custom scripts or take advantage of advanced debugging tools.

• Each customization requires developers specialized in Shopify, with significantly higher hourly costs than traditional open source stacks. And the availability of expert figures, especially in Italian, is much lower.

The result? Customizing Shopify in depth is not only complicated, but It is also expensive, slow and subject to constant limitations imposed by the platform.

▸ Advanced features missing or inaccessible

Shopify covers the basics of selling online. But when it comes to adding complex logic – like dynamic bundles, user-based conditional rules, product configurators, advanced shipping rules, or custom checkouts – the platform shows all its limits.

Here are some concrete cases:

• Want to offer a bundled product only if there is a specific combination of other items in the cart? Shopify doesn't support this natively.

• Want to change available payment methods based on country or customer type (B2B vs B2C)? Not possible without external apps and workarounds.

• Want to build a product configurator that dynamically updates variants based on user choices (e.g. t-shirt customization, assembled computers, color/size combinations)? Expensive, limited, and often poorly integrated plugins are needed.

Many of these problems are easily solved on WooCommerce or Magento, where the code can be freely modified. On Shopify, however, you are bound to what the platform allows you to do, and anything outside the standard paths requires additional apps – with the costs and constraints seen above.

▸ App Conflicts: A Fragile Ecosystem

Another little discussed issue is the Fragility of the Shopify App Ecosystem. Despite the apparent wealth of solutions in the marketplace, these apps:

• They are not designed to work together. They often modify the same template, work on the same hooks, or load conflicting JavaScript.

• They add external calls and scripts that significantly slow down the site's performance, slowing down page loading and worsening the user experience.

• They can cause intermittent bugs or sudden incompatibilities, especially when Shopify updates the platform or introduces changes to the DOM structure.

• They receive separate assistance: if something goes wrong, Shopify assumes no responsibility, and support refers you to the app developers – who in turn blame other installed modules.

This lack of coordination between apps and the total absence of control over the executed code make maintenance of a complex store is very difficult. Often, instead of building a coherent and robust system, you end up piling plugin upon plugin, each one a potential breaking point.

▸ An apparent flexibility that clashes with structural limits

Ultimately, Shopify is for those who accept its rules. It is a platform that is “fine” as long as the needs remain simple, as long as one does not deviate from standardized cases. But as soon as you try to innovate, optimize or integrate, you run into constraints you can't overcome: limited language, inaccessible code, rigid apps, lack of adequate APIs, lack of server-side extensions.

An open source CMS – such as WooCommerce, Magento or PrestaShop – allows you to:

• Directly modify any part of the code, both frontend and backend.

• Create custom forms based on the real flows of your business.

• Integrate external tools (management, CRM, ERP) natively or via open APIs.

• Work on a flexible, scalable, replicable infrastructure.

• Maintain high performance even with advanced features, thanks to server-side optimization (caching, CDN, database tuning, etc.).

Choosing Shopify ultimately means, accept that you cannot do everything you want, but only what you are allowed to do. For some, it is enough. For those with higher ambitions, no.

4. Locked and limited checkout

Checkout is the most delicate and strategic moment of the entire eCommerce funnel. It is here that the user makes the final decision: complete the purchase or abandon the cart. Every detail – from speed, to the clarity of the layout, to the personalization of the experience – can directly impact the conversion rate. And for this very reason, the limitations imposed by Shopify on this crucial phase become a serious obstacle to the growth of a digital project.

Unlike open source platforms where every element is customizable, Shopify maintains the strictly closed checkout process for most users, offering significant changes only to those who pay for the expensive Shopify Plus enterprise plan. And even then, the margins of freedom are not total.

▸ Checkout not changeable (unless you pay thousands of euros per month)

For users of the Basic, Standard and Advanced plans – that is, the vast majority – Shopify checkout is completely armored. The code that governs the checkout page is not accessible or editable via themes or custom code.

What does this mean in concrete terms?

• You cannot change the checkout layout to make it more consistent with your brand.

• You cannot change the order or behavior of the fields (e.g. hide or make the phone number optional).

• You cannot apply conditional logic, such as displaying certain payment methods only to certain users or based on country.

• You can’t add custom fields without external apps, which are often poorly integrated or subject to limitations.

Only with ShopifyPlus, which has a monthly cost starting from approximately dollars 2.000, you can work on the checkout template. But even then, the changes are tied to the Liquid language and subject to limitations documented by Shopify itself. In practice, you pay a lot… but you don’t have complete control.

▸ No dynamic funnels or advanced sales logic

A successful modern eCommerce does not just present products: it builds Customized sales funnels that guide the user towards the purchase, increase the average value of the cart and improve customer satisfaction.

Shopify, unfortunately, does not allow direct implementation of dynamic funnels, at least not without using expensive external apps. This comes with several operational limitations:

• You can’t automatically offer a complementary or upsell product at the right time, in the right place (e.g. in the cart or right before checkout).

• You cannot run personalized offers based on the user's cart, past behavior, or demographic criteria.

• You cannot introduce conditional cart logic, such as “if you purchase more than €100, you get a discount or a free gift visible at checkout”.

All these features, considered today standard in any advanced eCommerce strategy, require specific apps on Shopify, each with its own costs and constraints. Additionally, many of these apps work in JavaScript overlays, not directly in the checkout flow, creating poorly integrated and sometimes unstable experiences.

▸ Structural problems in the B2B sector

Shopify was born with a strong B2C vocation: it is perfect for selling t-shirts, jewelry, accessories, objects, consumer products. But quickly becomes unsuitable for those operating in B2B, that is, in professional contexts where sales follow more complex logic.

Among the most common limitations for B2B merchants we find:

• The inability to manage Multiple price lists for different customer groups (e.g. resellers, distributors, VIP customers).

• The lack of a customizable checkout for those who purchase with VAT number, with specific tax fields for European invoicing (e.g. SDI code, PEC, intra-EU VAT exemptions).

• The absence of Custom payment terms, such as 30-day bank transfer, conditional cash on delivery, or the selection of payment methods only for certain customers.

• The total inadequacy in managing approval flows (e.g. orders to be confirmed internally before final purchase), typical in B2B processes.

To replicate these functions on Shopify, third-party apps and advanced customizations are needed… which often they are not even compatible with native checkout. It is a technical and strategic dead end.

▸ The result: higher abandonment rate and almost zero optimization margins

All these constraints converge into a concrete and measurable consequence: higher cart abandonment rates. An unoptimizable checkout does not allow for A/B testing, does not support advanced funnels, does not allow for the removal of friction, nor does it allow for the personalization of the purchase path.

This means:

• Conversions lost because checkout is too long or unclear.

• Frustrated customers who can't find their preferred payment method.

• Missed upsell opportunities due to rigid flow.

• No possibility to integrate analytical tools or advanced profiling features.

And especially, no freedom to experiment: Anyone who works in marketing knows that continually testing and optimizing your checkout is one of the most effective ways to increase revenue. With Shopify, this becomes impossible – unless you upgrade to Shopify Plus, and even then there are obvious compromises.

5. Limited SEO and little customizability

One of the most misunderstood aspects by those who approach Shopify is its supposed compatibility with SEO practices. The platform advertises itself as “SEO-friendly”, and in fact it offers some basic features: it is possible to set titles, descriptions, meta tags and integrate Google Analytics or Search Console. However, those who work seriously on organic positioning – perhaps in competitive sectors or on international projects – soon discover that Shopify has structural limitations that are very difficult to work around., if not impossible to solve without compromise.

Let's look at the most critical points in detail.

▸ URL structure set and not editable

One of the fundamental aspects for SEO is the possibility of building semantic URLs, short, coherent and optimized based on keywords and content hierarchy. Shopify, unfortunately, imposes a fixed structure for the main types of content:

• /products/nome-prodotto

• /collections/nome-categoria

• /blogs/nome-blog

• /pages/nome-pagina

These segments are mandatory and cannot be removed or modified. It is not possible, for example, to have a URL of the type /catalogo/prodotti/nome-prodotto, /articoli/nome-blog-post. This greatly limits advanced SEO strategies that make use of logical, keyword-rich hierarchical structures in URL paths.

Furthermore, the forced repetition of /products/ e /collections/ creates redundant URLs, less readable for the user and potentially penalizing for Google, which prefers short and meaningful paths. In a CMS like WooCommerce or Magento, on the contrary, the structure can be built to measure, down to the single character.

▸ Poorly managed and poorly controllable redirects

Whenever you change the slug of a page or product on Shopify, the platform creates automatically a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. While this feature is useful for avoiding 404 errors, It totally lacks granularity and control.

The most common problems include:

• Redirect Chains: if you change the same URL multiple times over time, Shopify doesn't update the original redirect but creates a series of linked redirects, slowing down loading times and generating reports in SEO tools (like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs).

• No direct access to .htaccess file or server rules: You cannot create conditional, wildcard, or 410 redirects (for permanently removed content).

• No dynamic redirect: it is not possible, for example, to manage redirects based on language, referrer, user-agent or custom path.

For those who need to manage complex migrations or SEO-critical redirects after a site restructure, Shopify becomes a platform hostile from a technical point of view.

▸ Limited or complicated meta tag and structured data management

Shopify allows you to set an SEO title and meta description for each content. However:

• Not all page types support custom meta fields, especially if you use external apps or themes with limited features.

• Structured data (schema.org) – essential for the rich snippet on Google – are managed directly in the Liquid theme and require development skills to be customized. There is no native interface that allows you to easily modify them.

• Errors in markup are common if you intervene manually, and Google can penalize the page if it detects duplicate, malformed or inconsistent microdata.

In practice, an activity that on other CMS is managed with advanced plugins (such as Rank Math on WordPress or SEO Toolkit on PrestaShop), on Shopify becomes a complex technical intervention, with high margins of error and difficult maintenance.

▸ Breadcrumbs and inflexible semantic structure

Le breadcrumb are a central element for technical SEO and user experience: they help Google understand the structure of the site and allow users to orient themselves while browsing. Shopify, however, manages in a static and limited way breadcrumbs, tying them mainly to the “collections” system.

Problems include:

• Lack of real hierarchies: products do not have a native hierarchical relationship with categories. They can belong to multiple “collections”, but this is not reflected in the site structure.

• Limited Breadcrumbs: In most themes, breadcrumbs are flat, often non-clickable, or poorly semantically structured. Implementing SEO-friendly breadcrumbs (with JSON-LD or Microdata markup) requires manual changes in Liquid templates.

• No centralized management: any changes must be made at the theme level and can be overwritten by updates, without a unified control point.

For those working with large eCommerce sites, with hundreds of categories, subcategories and complex product relationships, This rigidity represents a clear obstacle to optimization.

▸ Structural SEO Limitations That Block Organic Growth

All of these factors, combined, create an environment that is not conducive to an advanced and scalable SEO strategy. Shopify works well for small shops that do not rely on organic traffic, but Those who base part of their success on SEO will find the platform frustrating.

• You can’t create keyword-optimized landing pages with custom URLs and metadata.

• SEO translations (hreflang, multilingual meta tags) are poorly managed or completely absent, unless external apps are used.

• Technical performance – such as load times and core web vitals – can be impacted by extensive use of external apps and client-side code.

In short, Shopify is SEO-friendly only in appearance. In practice, imposes too rigid limits for those who intend to build a solid organic presence, working on content, structure, data and semantics.

6. No access to underlying infrastructure

Anyone familiar with advanced development, system optimization or enterprise application integration knows how important it is to have complete control over the infrastructure. Even in managed environments, the ability to deeply intervene on the server, database or advanced configurations is an essential requirement for scalability, security and operational efficiency.

Shopify, on the other hand, adopts a “black box” philosophy: it offers you a closed, pre-packaged environment that works according to its rules and is in no way accessible under the hood. For some, this may seem reassuring. But for those with more advanced needs, this setup translates into a serious operational limitation.

▸ No advanced SSH or SFTP access

In Shopify There is no possibility to access the server via SSH, neither in root mode nor as a limited user. This means:

• You cannot upload files via terminal, manage versions, modify directories, or install custom tools.

• You cannot run scripts in common languages ​​(e.g. Bash, Python, PHP) to automate server-side operations.

• You can't even access the filesystem in an advanced way via SFTP: the only way to modify templates is through the theme interface (online) or by using limited tools like Shopify CLI, which still operate in sandbox mode.

For those who are used to working with Linux environments, versioning code directly on the server or monitoring log files in real time, this is a technical castration which prevents any “behind the scenes” intervention.

▸ No customizable cron jobs

Another serious limitation concerns the management of scheduled tasksIn any self-hosted CMS it is possible to configure cron jobs, which are scheduled operations that are periodically executed by the operating system.

On Shopify, instead:

• You cannot schedule automatic processes to synchronize products from external sources, update inventory, send custom reports, or perform incremental backups.

• The only way to handle repetitive tasks is rely on webhooks or external services (like Zapier, Integromat or custom API-based tools), with all the limitations, costs and dependencies that this entails.

• You cannot orchestrate advanced back-office processes, such as automation related to invoicing, warehouse flows or updates related to promotional campaigns.

In essence, everything that requires scheduling logic is blocked, unless we resort to complex external solutions that are subject to latency and fallibility.

▸ No direct access to the database

Shopify does not allow direct database access in any way. You cannot connect via MySQL, PostgreSQL or other SQL clients to run queries, custom reports, optimizations or bulk data extractions.

The only ways to access the data are:

• REST API and GraphQL, which allow partial interrogation of the system entities, but with speed limits (rate limits) and incomplete information.

• CSV Exports, available only for some objects (products, customers, orders), often lacking complex relationships, custom fields or detailed history.

This represents a major obstacle for those who have needs of business intelligence, data mining, or advanced reporting, or for those who want to integrate Shopify into a larger business ecosystem (ERP, BI, data warehouse, etc.).

With an open source CMS, you can build custom queries, schedule them, optimize them, replicate them. With Shopify, you are forced to work with limited, incomplete and often inefficient tools.

▸ Zero possibility of performance tuning

Performance tuning is one of the fundamental levers for an eCommerce that wants to grow. The possibility of optimizing PHP, using Redis or Memcached, regulating the use of CPU or disk, setting up customized caching policies, integrating a trusted CDN... are all strategies that can reduce response times and drastically improve the user experience.

On Shopify:

• You can't choose the PHP version (because you don't use it).

• You cannot implement server-side caching or modify existing policies.

• You cannot install monitoring tools like New Relic, Datadog, Prometheus, etc.

• You can't even know where your shop is physically located: Shopify handles everything opaquely, with global CDNs and aggressive caching, but without giving you any control or configuration options.

This is acceptable for those with few visits and a simple catalog. But for projects with high traffic, seasonal peaks, critical performance needs or stringent SLA requirements, Lack of control over the infrastructure stack is a non-negotiable limitation.

Who is Shopify good for?

After an in-depth analysis of Shopify's structural and technical limitations, it is legitimate to ask whether the platform should always be avoided. The answer is no: there are cases in which Shopify can represent a legitimate choice, sometimes even functional, especially in the initial phase. It is not an "wrong" platform in an absolute sense, but it is important to clarify well What types of projects is it really suitable for?.

Shopify can work reasonably well for those starting from scratch, with an extremely limited catalog and no particular needs in terms of customization, performance, scalability or integration with external systems. It is particularly useful for small digital entrepreneurs, artisans, DIY professionals or microbrands who want to quickly launch a first online shop. In these cases, the simplicity of the interface and the fact of not having to manage a server are an advantage: just a few clicks are enough to be online, sell some products, test the market and gain initial experience with e-commerce.

Even for startups that need to quickly validate a business idea, Shopify can offer an initial shortcut. It allows you to build an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) at a low cost, without having to hire a developer or set up a complex technical infrastructure. In a testing or exploratory launch context, where the goal is to understand if the product “works” and if there is demand, it can make sense to use an out-of-the-box solution, even if limited.

Finally, there is the case of physical stores that want a “representative” online presence with a minimal shop. If it is a matter of selling a few references in a simple way, perhaps with the integration of the Shopify POS to unify the inventory, it may be enough. But the discussion changes radically when the business begins to grow.

When an eCommerce project begins to mature, to increase the number of products, to introduce variants, different languages, multiple warehouses, complex promotional flows, B2B needs or integrations with management and CRM, Shopify begins to show all its weaknesses. The previously invisible limits become operational obstacles. Apps that once seemed to solve the problem multiply, overlap, and conflict with each other. Performance worsens, loading times get longer, and recurring costs often increase in an uncontrollable way. Every change or customization requires workarounds, specialized developers, or paid apps, and overall site management becomes increasingly intricate.

In this scenario, Shopify is no longer a useful tool, but a functional cage. And many digital entrepreneurs, who initially chose it for simplicity, find themselves having to plan a migration to more flexible and robust platforms such as WooCommerce, Magento or PrestaShop. For this reason, it is important to understand right away whether your project belongs to that narrow band of businesses that can really benefit from Shopify, or whether you are simply taking an easy road… which will become very complicated later on.

Shopify Dominates in Quantity, Not in Quality: What BuiltWith Data Tells Us

From BuiltWith charts for Shopify, there is a constant growth – and at times even dizzying – in the total number of active Shopify sites. Tracking on top 1.000.000 sites (red line) clearly shows an upward curve from 2015 onwards, with a peak around 2024. Shopify has gained a prominent position in the global landscape, and in terms of absolute numbers it is undoubtedly one of the most widespread platforms in the world.

However, if we look at the data relating to the Top 100k (blue line) and above all to Top 10k (green line) – that is, the most visited and most successful sites on a global scale – the reality changes dramatically. Shopify is almost absent from the world's 10.000 most trafficked sites and has a very small presence even in the top 100.000. This means that while many shops are created on Shopify, very few manage to reach the high levels of the online market.

This is a fact that cannot be ignored: Most Shopify sites rank on the low end in terms of traffic and importance. This confirms that Shopify is chosen predominantly by small merchants, freelancers, micro-entrepreneurs and early stage startups – individuals who aim for a quick and low-cost online presence, but not necessarily structured to last, scale or face competitive markets.

Magento: Fewer Sites, But High Concentration Among Top Players

The Magento graph shows an opposite trend. Although the overall number of installations has been declining in recent years – also due to the transition to Adobe Commerce Cloud and the discontinuation of version 1.x – Magento continues to be strongly represented in the Top 10k and Top 100k.

This is indicative of a platform used by structured companies, international brands and enterprise projects, where eCommerce is a central lever of the business and where maximum technical flexibility is needed. Magento is more difficult to manage, of course, but It is chosen by those who need advanced features, multi-store management, customized checkouts, integrations with ERP, logistics systems, marketing automation tools and complex B2B models.

In summary, Magento is not for everyone, but it is clear that Those who choose it do so with a clear strategy and ambitious objectives, and that's why we find it in the highest segments of the global eCommerce market.

Open-source alternatives: WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart, Sylius

For those who want a truly customizable, scalable and independent eCommerce project, open-source solutions today represent the most solid, flexible and sustainable alternative in the medium-long term. While Shopify offers a “turnkey” but rigidly closed solution, open-source CMS allow you to build your own custom online store, adapting it completely to the business model, sector, audience and company objectives.

Choosing an open-source platform doesn't mean "doing it all yourself" or giving up stability: it means don't accept compromises when it comes to functionality, control, performance, and growth. With the right managed hosting and knowledgeable technical support, even open-source platforms can offer a seamless and secure user experience that is superior to many SaaS solutions.

Let's take a detailed look at the most reliable and popular platforms on the market today.

WooCommerce: The Perfect Extension for WordPress Lovers

WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce extension for WordPress, and it is the ideal choice for those who are already familiar with this CMS. Lightweight, modular, flexible, WooCommerce allows you to transform a WordPress site into a complete store in just a few clicks, while maintaining all the potential of the underlying CMS: blog, landing page, funnel, SEO plugin, marketing integrations.

One of the main strengths is the vast international community: tens of thousands of plugins, compatible themes, developers, guides and documentation make WooCommerce a lively, up-to-date and constantly evolving platform.

Although it is also suitable for small shops, WooCommerce can scale very well if hosted on optimized servers: caching, database tuning, CDN, technologies such as Redis or Varnish allow you to obtain high performance even with large catalogs and high traffic. Furthermore, the integration with external tools (ERP, CRM, payment gateways, marketplaces) is direct and powerful, thanks to the numerous APIs and compatibility with open standards.

Magento (Adobe Commerce): The Power for Structured Businesses

Magento is the enterprise eCommerce CMS par excellence. Born to manage complex scenarios, vast catalogs, personalized flows and B2B logics, it is today one of the most robust platforms in the world. After the acquisition by Adobe, Magento has maintained its open-source version (Magento Open Source), but has also created a cloud-based version (Adobe Commerce) with commercial support.

Magento stands out for its modular architecture and advanced native features: multistore and multilingual support, differentiated price lists for each customer, conditional promotional rules, customized roles for the back-office, fully editable checkout, advanced stock management, advanced internal reporting.

It is a platform that requires high technical skills, but which allows total control over every aspect of your online business. It is the perfect choice for structured businesses, medium-large retailers, international projects, brands with omnichannel needs or strongly integrated with internal company systems.

PrestaShop: Balance between usability and power

PrestaShop is an open-source eCommerce platform born in France, now very popular in Europe. It stands out for its excellent user interface in the administration panel, intuitive management of products and categories, a native system of shipping rules, taxes and discounts among the best in the open source panorama.

PrestaShop represents an ideal compromise between simplicity and potential: it is simple enough to manage for freelancers and agencies that manage sites for SMBs, but also powerful enough to support eCommerce projects with thousands of products and structured transaction flows.

The official marketplace of modules and themes offers a wide range of extensions – some free, some paid – to manage SEO, GDPR, marketing automation, integrations with carriers, alternative payment methods, advanced logistics. In addition, the modular infrastructure and the active community make PrestaShop a very solid choice for those who want to grow without being blocked by technical or commercial constraints.

OpenCart: essential, lightweight and easily extendable

OpenCart is an open-source eCommerce CMS that is less known in Italy than the others, but much appreciated in the Anglo-Saxon world and in Asia. It is designed to be lean, fast, easy to install and simple to use, even for those who don't have great technical skills.

The admin panel is clear, the product management system is fast, and the file structure is easily editable by developers with PHP experience. It is ideal for those who want a minimal system, but with the possibility of extending it through modules and components. There are specific marketplaces, such as OpenCart Extension Store, which offer hundreds of plugins for SEO, payments, logistics, marketing and graphic interfaces.

OpenCart is suitable for small and medium projects looking for a lightweight open-source alternative, with clean code and a low learning curve.

Sylius: the headless and modern approach for tailor-made projects

Sylius is an open-source eCommerce CMS developed in Symfony, one of the most modern PHP frameworks. Unlike the others, it is not designed as a “ready-to-use” platform, but as a flexible and modular base for customized eCommerce projects. Sylius is the ideal choice for companies that want develop customized eCommerce solutions, perhaps with headless frontends (e.g. React, Vue) or integrated into complex digital ecosystems.

Sylius is aimed at advanced technical teams, digital startups and companies with specific architectural needs. It offers excellent documentation, a professional community and a fully testable, modular, extensible architecture. It is perfect for those who want Going beyond CMS and build real composable eCommerce systems.

Beyond Shopify: Freedom, Control, and Real Scalability

All these platforms, if hosted on adequate infrastructures, updated regularly and supported by an expert system team, can offer a user experience comparable – if not superior – to that of Shopify, with a substantial difference: freedom.

Freedom to manage your URL structure, to create your checkout as you wish, to choose your server and performance, to add features without going through a constrained marketplace, to migrate where you want, when you want. And most of all, freedom to build your own eCommerce project, without having to pay commissions on each sale, nor be subject to policies imposed by a third-party company.

Choosing an open-source platform means making a deeper investment at the beginning, but also build a project that is truly yours, without limits or surprises. In a world where agility and technological independence are strategic factors, it is a difference that can determine long-term success.

Real Cases: When Shopify Becomes a Problem

Real cases speak for themselves. A customer starts with Shopify, grows, adds more languages, more categories, more price lists. After 18 months, they have 10.000 products, three different price lists, B2B flows conditioned by product categories. The checkout can no longer be adapted. Promotions require expensive apps. Performance drops. The monthly cost exceeds 1.000 euros. At that point, the customer is forced to migrate, with all that this entails: loss of time, SEO risk, re-implementation costs.

Or, another case. SEO-oriented client, works on content, aims to position each category, each product sheet, each variant. Shopify limits it: non-editable URLs, rigid breadcrumbs, site structure not consistent with the SEO tree. After six months, traffic is low. The site is nice but invisible. Migrates to WooCommerce, with an SEO-oriented theme, and within 90 days the traffic doubles.

Finally, a company that handles sensitive data and must comply with the GDPR. It discovers that Shopify cannot guarantee data hosting in Europe. The servers are in the United States, and the contractual clauses are not enough to satisfy the supervisory authorities. The risk is high, compliance is compromised. Forced migration to European hosting, with open source CMS and dedicated technical support.

Conclusions: Shopify Is Not Evil, But It's Not For Everyone

The purpose of this analysis is not to demonize Shopify. That would be unfair and incorrect: the platform has clear merits and has lowered the entry threshold for thousands of digital entrepreneurs around the world. Its intuitive interface, low learning curve, and rapid integration with major marketing tools have made it popular, and rightly so. For certain profiles – especially those launching an MVP, small merchants, artisans, or startups in the testing phase – Shopify can represent a pragmatic, fast, and economically sustainable solution in the short term.

But that's exactly the point: Shopify only makes sense from a tactical, not strategic, perspective.. It works well when the business is simple, linear, without great operational complexity, and especially when there is no ambition to grow significantly, to customize every part of the user experience or to build an integrated digital ecosystem. As soon as the project starts to scale – more products, more languages, more logic, more teams, more external systems – Shopify reveals its true nature: a closed SaaS platform, with increasing recurring costs, limited flexibility and increasingly narrow margins for maneuver.

In this scenario, open source alternatives once again take on a strategic value. A CMS such as WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, OpenCart or Sylius – hosted on a high-performance infrastructure, managed by a competent system team – gives you a completely different perspective: puts you in charge of your project. Every choice is yours. Every feature can be developed ad hoc. Every part of your platform can evolve with your business, without having to pay a percentage on every sale, without being subject to unilateral policies, without depending on updates decided by others.

Choosing an Open Source CMS Today is no longer synonymous with complexity or risk. On the contrary: with the right technical partners you can have automatic updates, daily backups, continuous monitoring, human support, high performance, advanced security. All with a fixed, transparent cost, and above all without giving up ownership and sovereignty over your shop.

Don’t confuse initial simplicity with sustainability over time. Shopify can get you up and running in an hour, but as your business changes (and it will), you may find that what makes things easier today… limits you tomorrow.

And it's not just about code, plugins or infrastructure. It's about entrepreneurial vision. Do you want to build something of your own that will last, grow, and adapt? Or do you want to rely on a provider that can radically change the rules of the game with just one change to their terms of service or pricing plans?

Choosing an open source platform, therefore, is not a return to the past, but an investment in the future. It does not mean doing everything yourself, but choose who to work with, how to build, what to control. It means freedom. And in the contemporary digital market – where everything changes every six months, where needs evolve, where innovation is continuous – flexibility is the most valuable currency that you can own.

If you are planning an eCommerce with serious goals, if you really want to grow, if you want to build an asset that is yours in every way, then stop for a moment. Shopify may seem like the most comfortable path… but it is not always the one that will take you further.